Foreword.
Weather in Middle East doesn’t spoil us much. You might say it’s always sunshine, and it’s always warm. Yes, we don’t see much rain or clouds, but we don’t have clear skies either, those few days of the year during winter time with heavenly blue sky bring us much joy.
It’s usually hard to describe the Middle Eastern weather to whose who haven’t been here and experienced it all. It’s either too hot to enjoy outdoors, or it’s just that little bit too cold, especially in the evening and there’s only several perfect weeks of heavenly good weather, which we can enjoy to the fullest. This winter we made a promise to enjoy nature in UAE as much as our work schedule allows us and explore as much as possible. Of course we would have liked to do more hikes, but what we had wasn’t bad either.
Here are some of our hikes, we want to share with you, if you are visiting UAE and want to see more than cities and a desert safari, or you live here and want to escape that big city life, these hikes are for you. The most important thing is that all these hikes don’t require an SUV to reach the starting point.
A fairly important note - you have to have offline maps downloaded as most of the time there is no service and online maps become useless.
Feel free to download the included routes at the top of each hike’s description.
Mount. Mleiha, Sharjah
Elevation: 260m
Time: 1:30-2 Hrs one way
Distance: ±3km one way
Cellular & data service: Available at all times
Just a short drive from Dubai on E102 road Sharjah-Kalba in the middle of desert stands this tabletop like rock. Famous amongst desert runners, who drive here early in the morning just for a run to the top and down. But we like to take it slow, enjoy the views of the desert below us. We stayed overnight a couple of times here, and it’s the most amazing thing - just before the sun rises over the horizon, you can witness fog slowly travelling over the dunes. When the fog washes over the desert, all the shadows are very strong, tiny bits of fog still floating down in the desert. Oh and even on a humid night, stars are still visible as the place is quite far off from the big city lights.
The favourite.
There are not many places to set up a tent, only several spots where the base is flat enough and you can squeeze in several small tents. Luckily the tip of the mountain has just the perfect spot allowing for the best possible view. The stone is harsh, so if you are planning to camp, you will need a cushy mattress. The rock is naked, no trees or bushes on a top so if you want a bonfire in the evening , you need start picking up dry wood from the beginning of the hike and carry it all the way up.
Camping.
Where at.
Park the car on the side of the road, jump through the gates to start your walk. The beginning is the most important part as there is several valleys some one of them require advanced to expert climbing skills, so you really need to follow the route to find your way up.
The surprising Hatta.
Elevation: 384m
Time: 4h
Distance: 11,2 km loop
Cellular & data services: Unavailable most of the time
Hatta is famous for its water dam, this little town is developing into a big tourist attraction, the parking lots are full during weekends, people are traveling to see fresh water dam, but not many walk further than the dam itself. To be honest we didn’t even see water dam when we came, we turned left earlier from the crowds parked our car in empty parking space, just before the entrance gate to Sedr trailer resort and started our walk, surprisingly we didn’t meet a single person on our 10 km walk.
Looking at the terrain map, this hike looks more like a walk, quite flat, so we didn’t expect much, but we were blown away! The walk starts through a small local farm, filled with all kinds of farm animals. Further down a farmer village, the greeneries and the farm sounds bring you somewhere away from the UAE we’re so used to, you wouldn’t expect so much lush greenery and fresh air mixed with farm smells, it was so refreshing after several dusty days in the city.
A step away from
the crowds.
After the walk through the village there is a steep climb which brings you to the let’s call it “Canyon”. Which is absolutely breathtaking! It looks like a huge dry river that snakes along the valley. It’s hard to understand the depth of it unless you are down there. Again it’s hard to believe you are in UAE, and how come nobody ever told you about this place? When you are down in a valley it is like a maze, tricky to find right way out, but after some failures we walked through. Be wary that it’s filled with dry falls, do not attempt to climb them unless you know how to.
Otherworldly.
A refreshing ending.
At the end of the walk we reached the refreshing Hatta spring & we walked back to the car through Sadr resort road.
Take enough time for this hike, as it can be little bit tricky down in the wadi finding your way out!
Wadi Shawka.
Elevation: 297m
Time: 3:15
Distance: 7,5 km loop
Cellular and data services: Unavailable most of the time
A watery valley.
A beautiful short hike along the wadi which happened to be quite wet during our visit and full of unexpected fauna for this region. Located about two hours drive from Dubai (although it took us longer as Google Maps, was guiding us through gravel roads, which was absolutely unnecessary) Easy to locate - the beginning point is Emirates adventure camp, where you can leave your car and start walking. You can either turn right in the beginning, to leave the cherry on the cake (water pools) for the end, or you can go straight there. We walked straight down the wadi, which was full of water in several places, one of them was uneasy to pass, some just required bypassing them via alternate walkarounds. There is not many option to get lost in the beginning as you follow the valley, just at the end it splits into several options.
Options to explore.
If you are short on time don’t miss turn to the right at the end, if ready to explore more, follow the valley and most probably you will find another turn right, or you will end up on the road you were driving earlier, follow it until you reach your car. The terrain is small here, so it’s quite safe for beginners to do their first exploratory hikes.
The popular Wadi Shah.
Elevation: 600m
Time: 10:30 Hrs
Distance: 16,5 km loop
Cellular and data services: Unavailable most of the time
A revisit to our first
ever hike in UAE.
This is the first hike we did in UAE a few years ago. We came back this year to do it again, to find the Hidden Oasis, and spend the night at the top. Few years ago we did the hike in one day, which resulted in such a rush, that there was not enough daylight to properly see the second half of it as we almost ran down to finish it before dusk, we didn’t see the Hidden Oasis and we cut probably the best part the Donkey path. This time we decided to do it the right way, the no rush.
Wadi Shah is probably the one of the most popular hikes in UAE and it’s the only one where we met other people. However we were the only ones camping at the top, just us and nature. The surroundings are astonishingly green and alive with sounds of birds and grasshoppers after the winter season.
The beginning of the hike is quite flat, but does involve some bouldering. The valley changed quite a bit from the last time we paid it a visit, the severe rains back in 2018 reshaped the landscape with additional gravel and larger boulders. Halfway to the top you’ll see the most iconic part of the wadi - the dry bedrock river. Short climb from it, an abandon oasis, perfect place to recover before making the last bit of the ascent.
Camping.
If you’re planning on camping, there are loads of options as the hillside is riddled with abandoned farm terraces. They are completely level and have a very even surface (dried mud). We thought that we chose the top-most terrace, however in the morning we saw an additional terraces that sits nearly at the peak with even better views.
The donkey path &
secret oasis.
From the top you will see a farm and a path leading to it, follow the path, when you reach the farm you have a choice to do a rock climbing descent or follow the farm’s donkey path on the right. To see the hidden oasis you need to follow the donkey path. Going along the donkey path adds several kilometers, but it’s a much prettier route. It also gave us some food for thought as to how the donkeys are able to traverse this hard and punishing terrain.
Easy way down.
It’s a long easy walk down, with scenic views of Jebel Jais and the road winding up it’s slope.
Best time to enjoy this specific route - spring as the valley takes on a completely different look. Check the weather forecasts though, as rain in this region can be very heavy and show up with no notice which can result in flash floods.
The End.
As the temperatures already rose up to 38C during daytime, we are calling it an end to a fairly successful hiking season, albeit somewhat short. The take-away however would be the realisation that UAE is not all desert and cities, it’s so much more than that.